Main Story
- Celebrating African Human Rights DayCOMMENT Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime, Lena Scheibinger, Isabelle Zundel 21 October 2021 As we celebrate African Human Rights Day today; we look back at one of the most innovative human rights documents in the world: the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Whilst the standards laid out in this document have led to a sea change in the promotion and protection of human rights on the continent, they also highlight the enormous task that lies ahead. Because of the Charter, we have…
- Still Fighting for the Rights of all Women WorldwideCOMMENT Lena Scheibinger and Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime 15 October 2021 Regular readers of this blog will know that women’s rights was the focus of last month. Nevertheless, the fight for women’s rights continues. One month is not enough to encapsulate the importance, development and barriers regarding women”s rights, therefore, we want to feature this extracurricular article. In the second half of the twentieth century states adopted a plethora of international and regional human rights instruments dealing with the special experiences and needs…
- Creating Momentum for More Integrationist Judgments in African RECs: Lessons from Van Gend DecisionANALYSIS Nelson Otieno 08 October 2021 The success of the European economic integration project has influenced similar efforts across the world. Notably, the European experience has proved that regional courts play a pivotal role in fueling success of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) through developing community law and resolving disputes[1]. EU’s success has mainly been pegged on its supranational model of integration. Africa’s RECs, on their part, have adopted a comparatively flexible regime of State cooperation. Despite the difference in integration models, there are…
Politics
- Is Civil War Coming to Somalia?COMMENT René Brosius 28 April 2021 The conflict over elections in Somalia[1] , which has been ongoing since last summer, has reached the next stage of escalation. Internationally mediated talks between the government, whose term has constitutionally expired[2] and the National Salvation Council (NSC), consisting of the presidential candidates, the prime ministers of Jubbaland and…
- Somalia vs. Kenya – The maritime border disputeCOMMENT René Brosius 09 April 2021 Somalia and Kenya do not have a tension-free relationship. Many reasons for this lie in the conflict-ridden history. The border between the two countries is a disputed colonial legacy. Large ethnic Somali minorities still live on Kenya’s territory, especially in the so-called North Eastern Province. The majority of the…
- Encouraging Renewable Energy Deployment in Kenya – Analysing the Legal and PoliticalToolsANALYSIS Hannah Kadner 12 March 2021 Kenya 2030 – a mission (almost) accomplished. A mission designed to address the issue of insufficient energy supply in the East African country. Considering that Kenya is a so-called developing country (ranking 147th of 189 on the Human Development Index, in 2019) this aim of Kenya`s former president Mwai…
Human Rights
- Collective Human Rights in the Context of DecolonisationANALYSIS Prof. Dr. Bernd Kannowski 09 July 2021 What is decolonisation? By decolonisation we mean the processes of replacement that lead to the end of colonial rule, but above all the social, cultural, legal and economic developments that follow state independence. The process of decolonisation can be divided into five phases, with many considering the…
- Entrenching the CRC’s ‘environmental rights’COMMENT Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime 30 June 2021 The CRC does not explicitly guarantee children a right to an ecologically healthy environment. However, within its environment-related children’s rights lies the core content of such a right. Both the interpretive as well as the monitoring functions of the Committee offer the possibility of better defining the…
- Challenges of Criminalizing ukuthwala and Protecting Girls in South AfricaCOMMENT Lea Mwambene and Roberta Mgidlana In this short note we ask: What are the challenges of criminalizing ukuthwala in the protection of girls affected by the practice? Ukuthwala is a ‘romantic mock abduction’ of an unmarried woman by a man who intended to marry her.[1]The intention is to force the girl’s family to enter…
Elections
- House of Cards in Villa SomaliaANALYSIS René Brosius 17 September 2021 In April 2021, after Somalia was on the brink of civil war, it seemed for a long time that the solution would be found in a tough (s)election process. The May 27, 2021 agreement and Prime Minister Roble’s timetable presented at the end of June stipulated that this process…
- Insights and Additional Information on the Socio-Legal Discourse around Anti-RacismIntersectionality as a Key Concept for the Protection Against Multiple Discrimination The concept of intersectionality takes into account the interpenetration of various identity categories like race, gender, class, sexuality and disability as well as the structural interlocking of multiple forms of oppression like racism, sexism, classism and heterosexism by using an analogy to traffic: “Discrimination,…
- Constitutional Crisis in Somalia – Democratic, Free and Fair Elections?ANALYSIS René Brosius 10 February 2021 The upcoming presidential elections in Somalia are dominated by the debate on free and fair elections, a debate that brought the country to the brink of civil war. While the states of Puntland, Jubbaland as well as the united opposition in the country insist that the president’s term has…
YOUNG PLASTICS
- Advocating Against Plastic Waste in MalawiMalawi faces significant challenges in dealing with rising levels of waste, despite producing less waste than wealthier nations. In 2019, Lilongwe, the capital city of the country was producing approximately 250 metric tonnes of waste per day and the commercial city of Blantyre was producing 300 tonnes of waste per day, respectively (Hastings M’bawa, 2019). …
- Legal Interventions of African Countries to Reduce Single-Use Plastics – Are the Laws Enough?COMMENT Isabelle Zundel 30 August 2021 The increase of tragic natural disasters in intensity and frequency is proof of the immense challenge climate change displays. One of many contributing factors to climate change is the pollution and destruction of the environment through single-use plastic waste (SUP). The impacts are manifold and range from threatening terrestrial…
- Tackling the Problem of Plastic Pollution in Malawi through the Environmental Management Act (2017)?ANALYSIS Lena Scheibinger 12 May 2021 Following some pioneering initiatives in the neighbouring East African Community,[i] the government of Malawi imposed a ban on thin plastic bags in March 2015.[ii] However, this progressive move of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining was overturned by the High Court after a number of plastic manufacturers…